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Monday, January 09, 2012

The Hounds of Baskerville and Saucers Over the Moor

Last night's Sherlock gave us a secret research station on Dartmoor.

A novel idea?

Not quite. Here are trainee journalist Dan Sturt and his mother talking in Malcolm Saville's 1955 children's book Saucers Over the Moor:

Mrs Sturt put down her cup.

"You know as well as I do, Dan, that there's some secret place atop of the Moor. Folk round here all know it but they don't talk about it."

"That's true enough. It's something to do with atomic stuff, I b'lieve. I asked one of the warders from the Prison in the train once but couldn't get much out of him. Said it was built in the war but that people were still working there . . . Then I asked a chap in the office and he said we'd never be allowed to mention it. I thought I'd told you about it before."

"You did son. I'm just trying to help you. Seems to me that if a lot of crazy scientists are shut up in that place then there's something interesting going on. Do you know where it is?"

"Somewhere high above the source of the Swincombe Brook."

You can read a little of the background to Saucers Over the Moor in an earlier post on this blog.